Looking at a chili heat chart will show you that measuring chile heat is not an exact science. Not only is the scoville scale somewhat subjective, but chile heat can vary wildly within a specific species. The best way to avoid over-hot chilies is to pick a milder chili to begin with, but if you end up with an unusually hot batch, here are two things you can do to cool the chilies down:

1. Remove the seeds: The capsaicin in chilies (what makes them spicy) evolved as a defense measure to keep creatures (other than birds, which are immune) from eating them. (Evolutionarily speaking, chilies “want” birds to eat them, as birds can help sow a chile plant’s seeds further as they fly.) It is particularly concentrated in the seeds, so making sure you remove every last seed can dramatically reduce the heat of your chilies.

2. Remove the ribs: Inside each chili are several ribs that give it structure. These can be unpleasant to eat because of their texture, but they also carry a lot of the chile’s capsaicin.

Marx Foods offers a full line of dried chilies so you can find just the variety you need for a specific recipe. If you’re going to be using a lot of chili powder, rather than grinding your own (how to grind chili powder) consider our single chile variety chili powders, perfect for homemade spice blends as well as use as ingredients.